Following agreements with TotalEnergies, Eni, and ConocoPhillips, Qatar Energy announced on Tuesday that it had signed a contract with ExxonMobil for the Gulf state’s North Field East expansion. North Field East is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas project, Reuters reported.

Qatar is partnering with international companies for the first phase of the nearly $30 billion expansion, which will strengthen Qatar’s position as the world’s top LNG exporter.

QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said the companies will form a joint venture, in which Exxon holds a 25% stake.

Exxon will have a 6.25% stake in the North Field East expansion, Kaabi said.

Major oil companies are bidding for four trains – or liquefaction and purification facilities – that make up North Field East.

Six LNG trains are part of the North Field Expansion plan, which will increase Qatar’s liquefaction capacity from 77 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 126 mtpa by 2027. North Field South is the second phase, which includes the fifth and sixth trains.

The North Field is part of the world’s largest gas field, which Qatar shares with Iran. Iran refers to its portion as the South Pars.

The North Field is part of Qatar’s and Iran’s joint ownership of the world’s largest gas field. Iran’s part is known as the South Pars.

Exxon has a long relationship with Qatar, stretching back three decades to Mobil Oil’s role in the development of the country’s vast North Field gas resource.

Exxon CEO Darren Woods, who traveled to Qatar for the joint announcement on Tuesday, said the Golden Pass project was on track and that ExxonMobil was working with the US government to speed it up.

“Naturally, we were heavily involved in the process and contributed to the project. It’ll be ready when it’s supposed to be “he stated

“We’re collaborating closely with the (US) government to see what we can do to get the project forward.”